Anything but routine
By Rev Walker
Say what you like about the “Swiss League” qualifying stage’s lack of jeopardy for Europe’s top clubs, but you can’t call it boring.
It’s been suggested the high scores were largely the result of the big boys playing minnows, but I would venture that the seven-goal thriller between Inter and Club Brugge, the six-goal game of the season between Man City and PSG, along with the seven goals shared between Roma and Real, certainly weren’t in the giants vs minnow category, while Viking 3-3 Bayern, while surprising, wasn’t to be sneezed at either.
Round three goals: Tuesday 40 (4.44 per game) and Wednesday 34 at 3.77 per game. Could the goal glut be explained by the aforementioned lack of jeopardy?
The contradiction
Two statements: (1) Manchester City are all that’s wrong in the game today and they should be punished to the fullest extent; (2) Manchester City are brilliant and should be celebrated as such.
Contradictory perhaps, but in this case both statements are true – the first can’t really be argued against and neither can the second.
After all, what other English side can mount the sort of comeback from 3-0 down against PSG that Citeh so nearly did? Arsenal? No (in fairness they wouldn’t be three down in the first place). Liverpool? No. Man Utd? Never in a million years.
As said, the above the club and ownership fully deserve whatever sanctions come their way, but the team itself will be missed should that mean banishment or worse from the top tier.
Speaking of which
They say the the mark of a champion is the ability to grind out wins when you’re not playing well. If that is indeed the case, then hand Arsenal the title now.
Last season’s title win was achieved by that method and this season they’re taking the grind business to new highs – or should that be lows?
Case in point last week’s win at Forest, where their only shot on target came in the 80th minute courtesy of a deflection, and that was all that was needed to take the three points.
In modern rugby most teams have what is known as a “bomb squad”, with the idea being that on the hour mark half the team is replaced, enabling the fresh “finishers” to prey on tired opponents.
Well Arteta has adapted this concept to football with a superb bench that cost £300 million and is quite possibly superior in quality to his starters (cost £600 million), and for the second week and third game in a row substitutes have won the game for him where a draw was probably all they deserved.
It’s not pretty, in fact it’s downright ugly, but it is pragmatic if more than a tad attritional and for the gooners that’s all that matters.
As for the rest of us, if we want to see attractive entertaining footie then there’s always Chelsea, Brighton, Man City, Liverpool and Bournemouth – anywhere except Islington.
That said the gooners went toe to toe against a weakened Bayern in Munich on Wednesday and deserved their 2-2 draw, so they can do it when Arteta lets them off the leash.
Number of the week
0, zero, nada, nought – I’ve wracked my brain on this, but I think that the aforementioned Forest v Arsenal game is the second this season where neither side managed a shot on target in the first half, and Arsenal featured in the first game as well.
The second half wasn’t much better, with just two for Forest and as mentioned before one for Arsenal.
The fickleness of football
Half time last Saturday and Middlesbrough are 2-0 down at home to Cardiff. There are two ageing Boro fans in the bar and the language is fruity to say the least, none of it printable, but let’s just say that the manager’s parentage was called into question, as was that on most of the players in the defence.
Fast forward to full time and after bringing on their ex-Spurs (sob) top scorer, Boro have come back and drawn 2-2; in a complete about-turn the players are now deemed to be brilliant and the manager’s a genius.
Some would call such behavior fickle; I call it the essence of football fandom – you get the rough and you get the smooth, but they’re still your team, and they put you through all the emotions God sends and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Team of the week
Konstantinos Tzolakis Hull, Ethan Ampadu Leeds, Luka Vuskovic Brighton, Tarik Muharemovic Leeds, Ayyoub Bouaddi Man City, Pascal Gross Brighton, James Maddison Spurs, Jack Rudoni Coventry, Will Lankshear Middlesbrough, Erling Haaland Man City, Victor Munoz Liverpool.
Manager of the week: Roberto De Zerbi Spurs. Finally got the monkey off his back with Spurs’ first, albeit nervy, win of the season.
Players of the week: Marc Guehi, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Issa Diop, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Rayan, and Tyler Adams – not for their respective performances (Guehi had a mare against Ipswich), but instead for their refusal to take the knee. Their white teammates should take note.
This week’s games
Premier League today 2:30; Villa vs Man City. 5pm; Arsenal vs Everton, Coventry vs Fulham. 7:30; Chelsea vs Spurs. Tomorrow 4pm; Palace vs Newcastle, Hull vs Brentford, Liverpool vs Brighton, Man Utd vs Bournemouth. 6:30; Sunderland vs Leeds.
Selected Championship today 2:30; Charlton vs Norwich, Portsmouth vs Millwall. 5pm; Cardiff vs Birmingham, QPR vs Swansea, West Ham vs Southampton, Wolves vs Watford. Friday 10pm; Sheff Utd vs Wrexham.
EFL Cup last 16 Tuesday 9:45; Bradford vs Peterborough. 10pm; Fleetwood vs Arsenal. Wednesday 9:30; Man City vs Brighton. 9:45; Bournemouth vs Villa, Fulham vs Palace, Sunderland vs Brentford. 10pm; Liverpool vs Chelsea. Thursday 9:45; Everton vs Newcastle.
Selected Scotland today 5pm; Rangers vs St. Johnstone. Tomorrow 2pm; Hibs vs Celtic. 4pm; Motherwell vs Hearts. Wednesday 9:45; Celtic vs Dundee Utd. 10pm; Hearts vs Rangers.
Games to watch
Nothing really to get the pulses going, so it looks like it’s back-of-the-sofa time for me as Chelsea look to give their annual shellacking to Spurs.
In the EFL Cup, Man City vs Brighton should be a good watch if they both play their first choice teams and the same applies to Liverpool vs Chelsea.
F1
United States Grand Prix, Austin Texas, tomorrow 10pm. Austin’s a good circuit so hopefully we’ll see some thrills and spills.
And finally
Last week’s question: what do ex-Saint Francis Benali and Liverpool super gob Jamie Carragher have in common? They both scored more own goals than goals in the right end during their careers.
The underrated and popular Benali made 366 appearances for Southampton and 15 for Nottingham Forest scoring just once in a 2-1 Saints win at Leicester in 1997, while he is officially credited with two own goals.
Carragher, who is certainly not underrated, especially by himself, played 737 times for his only club scoring four goals, three of them in the league, and seven own goals, including two in one game against Manchester United and another three against Spurs over his career (any chance he could boot up for Chelsea today?).
I could also have featured the excellent Des Walker, whose goals to own goals ratio reads 1-7 in his otherwise superb career.
This week: what happened in the 1964-65 Scottish first division that had never happened before or since?